Venue: Netherton Social Club, 1a Netherton Lane, Bedlington, NE22 6DP
Contact: Heather Bowers
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APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE Minutes: Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Flux, Robinson, and Wilczek. |
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Minutes of the meeting of the Cramlington, Bedlington & Seaton Valley Local Area Committee held on 20 February 2024 as circulated, to be confirmed as a true record and signed by the Chair. Minutes: RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting of the Cramlington, Bedlington & Seaton Valley Local Area Committee held on Wednesday, 20 February 2024 as circulated, be confirmed as a true record, and be signed by the Chair. |
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PUBLIC QUESTION TIME To reply to any questions received from members of the public, which may be received in writing in advance of the meeting or asked at the meeting. Questions can be asked about issues for which the Council has a responsibility. If questions are received in advance of meetings it will increase the likelihood of an answer being provided at the meeting. (Public question times take place on a bimonthly basis at Local Area Committee meetings: in January, March, May, July, September and November each year.).
As agreed by the County Council in February 2012, the management of local public question times is at the discretion of the Chair of the committee.
Please note however that a question may possibly be rejected if it requires the disclosure of any categories of confidential or exempt information, namely information:
And/or:
If the Chair is of the opinion that a question is one which, for whatever reason, cannot properly be asked in an area meeting, he/she will disallow it and inform the resident of his/her decision.
Copies of any written answers (without individuals' personal contact details) will be provided for members after the meeting and also be publicly available.
Democratic Services will confirm the status of the progress on any previously requested written answers and follow up any related actions requested by the Local Area Committee. Minutes: A Hogg, West Bedlington Town Council raised the following questions:
1) Does the Council know how long it would be before another contractor would be found to resume work on the Bedlington Town Centre project?
The Chair stated that notification had only been received recently and another contractor would be appointed to complete the 2nd phase of the project. Advance and NCC remained committed, and the situation would be assessed. Discussion had been ongoing with the new contractor to resume works as soon as possible.
2) Was there a date for the 20 mph speeds signs on the B1331?
Neil Snowdon, Highways Programme Manager stated that this was in hand with the Streetlighting Team. |
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LOCAL SERVICES UPDATE To receive a verbal update from the Area Managers from Technical Services and Neighbourhood Services in attendance about any key recent, ongoing and/or future planned Local Services work for the attention of members of the Local Area Committee, who will also then have the opportunity to raise issues with the Area Managers.
The Area Managers have principal responsibility for highway services and environmental services, such as refuse collection, street cleansing and grounds maintenance, within the geographic boundaries of the Local Area Committee. Minutes: Tony Gribbin gave the following updates:
NEAT – Grounds Maintenance
Winter Maintenance
Grass cutting
Street cleansing
Waste Services
In response to members’ questions, the following information was provided:
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This item is to:
Zebra Crossing on Stead Lane, Bedlington for the safety of children.
Minutes: Zebra Crossing on Stead Lane, Bedlington
Julia Masters, Lead Petitioner was in attendance to speak on the petition.
She had lived on Stead Lane for 12 years which was a primary traffic route into and out of Bedlington with direct access to the A189 Spine Road, north and south, with both light and heavy vehicles. Over that time, the volume and speed at which traffic travelled along the road had increased.
Some traffic calming measures had been introduced in the form of a 20-mph zone indicated by flashing lights either end of the zone during school start/end of the day and in her observations the traffic calming measures were ineffective, situated in the wrong place and should be sited further up Stead Lane towards the school. The lights flashed at the wrong times which meant they were ignored by drivers and often obscured at the Elenbel Avenue end by a large camper van parked on the roadside. The flashing lights did not provide enough of a deterrent to drivers to reduce their speed.
Mrs Masters requested that a zebra crossing was put in place where there were already dropped kerbs, linking in Poplar Grove to Terrier Close to allow for safer crossing. This would provide a more visible and hopefully effective traffic calming measure, with the expectation that drivers would adhere to the Highway Code and stop to allow pedestrian traffic to get to Stead Lane School, Bedlington Academy, and access to the local shops at The Oval.
She explained that this would not just be for the safety of children (although they were the main concern) but also to help the elderly who lived in the bungalows at Poplar Grove and those with mobility issues who took longer to cross the road than others.
Neil Snowdon, Highways Programme Officer referred to report and stated that a survey had been completed on 28 February. The result had been 0.07 therefore, the necessary criteria had not been met. The minimum requirement was 0.2 however, this was a local requirement specific to Northumberland, which was more generous than the nationally recommended 0.5.
A speed survey had been carried out in January 2023, however it had been undertaken further to the east of the location of the requested zebra crossing. The average speed recorded for east bound vehicles was 28.7mph with an 85th percentile of 34.2mph. For westbound vehicles, the average speed recorded was 27.4mph with an 85th percentile of 31.6mph. Based on the data from the survey, that did not meet the necessary criteria for enforcement.
Mr Snowdon reported that there had been a couple of accidents in the last five years with two slight personal injury collisions in the vicinity where the zebra crossing had been requested. Based on the description of the collisions, they appeared to be one off incidents, potentially caused deliberately.
No further action was proposed in relation to the requested crossing; however, the school would be contacted to offer appropriate road safety training.
The flashing ambers ... view the full minutes text for item 68. |
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WORK SMART LIVE WELL To receive a presentation - Work Smart Live Well, a partnership approach to employment and skills information, advice and guidance for residents. Minutes: Members were informed of a new employment concept which would bring opportunities in supporting residents who were looking for employment.
The Employment and Skills Hub was a partnership approach to local delivery providing access to high quality information, advice, guidance, and training to engage residents in a personalised holistic approach.
The three key goals were to develop and deliver a co-created Employment and Skills Hub for residents; improve the quality of residents’ lives through access to opportunities for learning and skills and employment support; bringing together residents and employers by providing services to strengthen employment outcomes across all age groups.
Target audiences were age 16+, working age; resident in Northumberland; unemployed, economically inactive; low paid, casual, minimum, and zero-hour contract workers.
The structure was to use networks and marketing to promote and engage residents; meet residents to discuss purpose of visit; triage support and deliver provision.
The service would be delivered weekly to the community as a cohesive offer for residents in one place, offering support that linked in with employment, such as employment programmes, training provision and support services. A Steering Group would develop a delivery schedule and themed weeks at Cramlington Hub which was the pilot location.
Upcoming themes for the year would be delivered via Padlet.
Members raised issues regarding accessibility, reaching audiences and engagement. The committee was informed that programme was not 100% funded and an internal evaluation would be carried out.
Officers were asked to report back to the committee once the project had been more embedded.
RESOLVED that the presentation be received. |
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LOCAL AREA COMMITTEE WORK PROGRAMME To note the latest version of agreed items for future Local Area Committee meetings (any suggestions for new agenda items will require confirmation by the Chairman of Council after the meeting). Minutes: RESOLVED that the work programme be noted.
The issue of trees was requested as a further agenda item. |
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DATE OF NEXT MEETING The next Local Area Committee meeting will be held on Wednesday 29 May, 2024. Minutes: Wednesday 29 May 2024. |